SIMI activists shot from close range

Bhopal: A video showing a policeman shooting at a SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) activist some meters away has put the Madhya Pradesh government in a dock. The video shows a SIMI activist raising his hand as though he was requesting the policeman not to kill him. The eight SIMI members who reportedly escaped from the central jail here on Monday after killing one security guard were gunned down in an alleged encounter with the police.

The prisoner scaled up a wall, slit the throat of a head constable by a steel blade, tied up another guard and escaped. The names of the prisoners who escaped are: Amzad, Zakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mjueeb Shaik, Mehbood Guddu, Mohammad Kalid Ahmad, Aqeel and Majid.

The ‘encounter’ took place near Eintkhedi village a few hours after prison break. The sarpanch of Acharpur village has shot the controversial video by smart mobile phone. Police described the event as a raging encounter whereas the video shows the policemen firing at unarmed persons three or four meters away.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sivraj Singh Chauhan and local BJP MPs have praised the police for neutralizing the rebels. But, Digvijay Singh, former chief minister of MP and Congress General Secretary, had called it a fake encounter. He demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. The video clip shown by CNN-18 channel and India Today channel has established that the encounter is not real.

MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned the claim of the police that the SIMI activists had weapons with them. How can prisoners have weapons?, he asked. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh was questioned about the video. The Home Minister was not perturbed by the video and kept saying that the police did whatever there was to be done. Union Home Ministry has asked the MP government to send a detailed report.